Search

The Greek Government seems to think austerity works

by Samantha Ritchie People have taken to the streets of Greece to protest against austerity measures. Despite this, the government passed a bill last night which puts 25,000 public sector jobs into a ‘mobility pool’. This pool, will give employees 75% …

People have taken to the streets of Greece to protest against austerity measures. Despite this, the government passed a bill last night which puts 25,000 public sector jobs into a ‘mobility pool’. This pool, will give employees 75% of their salary and eight months to find a job in another department or they will become unemployed.

But, with no new posts becoming available and more cuts… will there be any other posts for these employees? By the end of 2014, it is estimated that 11,000 people will lose their jobs.

Patra Hatziharalampous, a 52 year old school guard in uniform said between sobs “after 12 years on the job, they fire us in one night…. if they have any guts they should say no to the bailout.”

The bill narrowly passed in parliament with 293 law makers in the room 150 voted for and 143 voted against.

Over 5,000 Greek’s demonstrated outside parliament against the austerity measures, holding black balloons chanting “we will not succumb, the only option is to resist!””

Despite the cuts, Greece is still continuing to not address tax evasion. Tax evasion in Greece is a huge problem and addressing the issue would not mean that public sector workers would lose their jobs.

In May, in a report the IMF told Greece to address the issue of tax evasion in the country “the rich and self-employed are simply not paying their fair share, which has forced an excessive reliance on across-the-board expenditure cuts and higher taxes on those earning a salary or a pension.”

Will the government ever wake up and realise austerity isn’t working and realise what will?